Message from Chairman and CEO Fran Nevrkla

At the end of last year, I told my Executive Management Team, the main PPL Board, the Performer Board and subsequently all PPL staff that I wished to step down from my joint role as Chairman and Chief Executive of PPL at the end of December 2011. In response to a specific request from the PPL Board and its Remuneration Committee, I shall retain the role of Chairman for the next 2-3 years.

Peter Leathem, now our Managing Director, will become PPL's Chief Executive Officer with effect from 1st January 2012. Peter and I have been working very closely together for the last several years and I am confident that in his hands PPL (and VPL) will continue to grow and prosper. I am delighted that following some careful and deliberate planning, it is possible for us to put into effect this very smooth and logical transition. The timing for this change seems almost perfect and it will allow Peter Leathem to introduce his style and his way of doing things which is healthy for any organisation. Peter and I will continue our working partnership although on my part I will be reducing my direct involvement and input each year.

PPL (and VPL) has seen many changes over the last eleven years, some of them fairly fundamental. I am very pleased to see that it became possible for us to create a new organisation with energy, real commitment and hunger for success. Every member of our staff has a genuine desire to provide first-class services to all our customers, especially all the individual performers, the record companies, but also to all our licensees as well as to the wider music industry. We make every effort to maintain a user-friendly style and we also try to have some fun, especially on a good day. I feel genuinely proud of our achievements which are due to the efforts and hard work on the part of every individual within the organisation. I also feel extremely fortunate and privileged to have had the opportunity to lead the organisation for the last nearly 11 years.

I would like to say a big thank you to my immediate colleagues but also to all my friends and contacts in the outside world. I am enormously grateful for all the goodwill, support and encouragement offered to me and my team over the years. I know that PPL will continue to thrive and I wish my colleagues the very best of success, satisfaction and enjoyment in their future endeavours. As I always say: onwards and upwards!